2018 Cotes du Rhone Blanc

Showing more Marsanne character, the 2018 Côtes du Rhône Blanc is another rich, yet also fresh white that displays lots of white flowers, honeysuckle, hints of brioche, and peach aromas and flavors. It's another food-friendly, rounded, supple, beautiful white. Domaine Jamet is located high up on the upper plateau above Côte Rôtie, around the village of le Vallin, and Jean-Paul and Corinne Jamet have been farming 25 different plots here, spread across 17 lieux-dits, since 1984. The majority of their holdings are located in the more schist-dominated Côte Brune side of Côte Rôtie (Chavaroche and Le Truchet being the largest) yet they also have prime real estate in Lancement and the Côte Blonde. The winemaking here is traditional yet not dogmatic, and the cellars are clean and impeccably kept. While Jean-Paul likes stems, there are plenty of parcels, and vintages, that see varying degrees of destemming and aging occurs mostly in demi-muids, with 15-30% being new. His Côte Rôties are bottled unfined and unfiltered after two years in barrel. Jamet’s wines represent a quintessential Côte Rôtie and possess incredible aromatics as well as a concentrated, structured style on the palate that rewards 5-7 years of bottle age. Top vintages of Jamet’s Côte Rôtie can evolve positively for 25 to 30 years. In addition to the classic cuvée, they also release a tiny production Côte Rôtie Côte Brune in top vintages. This cuvée comes all from the Côte Brune lieu-dit and sees a touch more new wood, but is largely made in the same, classic style. It always has a touch more concentration and structure yet can also show more elegant tannins.

Tasted from tank, the 2018 Cotes du Rhone Blanc is a blend of 50% Marsanne, 30% Viognier and 10% each Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. It's rich, fragrant and toasty (a portion was barrel-fermented and aged), like the ripest Chardonnay ever, with notes of mango, pineapple and peach. Medium to full-bodied, drink this lush, flamboyant wine over the next couple of years.